Thread-holder for spools



(No Model.)

S. B. & G. B. PRATT.

THREAD HOLDER FOR SPOOLS. No. 394,996. PatentedDeo. 25, 1888.

' 37-27181? flay.

UNiTEo STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL BARKER PRATT AND CLARA BARKER PRATT, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

TH READ-HOLDER FOR SPOOLS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 394,996, dated December 25, 1888.

Application filed July 11, 188. Serial No. 279,639. No model.)

To coZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, SAMUEL BARKER PRATT and CLARA BARKER PRATT, both of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Attachment for Spools of Thread, of which the following is a specification.

Spools of thread for domestic use are apt, especially when lying in a basket or work-box, to become more or less unwound, with the result that the thread from the different spools is liable to become tangled, and much trouble and loss of thread and time ensue therefrom. Our device is intended to obviate this difficulty, to do'away with any necessity .for slitting or notching the spool, and to provide an end of the thread always ready for use, but at the same time to prevent the spool from becoming unwound any further.

In the accompanying drawings, in which similar letters of reference indicate like parts, Figure l is an elevation of a spool of thread provided with our device. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the same. Fig. is a plan of the annular trough removed. Fig. t is an edge view of the same. Figs. 5 and 6 exhibit modifications.

A represents an ordinary spool with the thread. B wound upon it in the usual manner.

C is an annular trough, made, preferably, of thin metal, laid around the spool upon the thread at the point where the end of the thread appears. The ends of this trough overlap, but are not fastened together, and it is hence enabled to contract as the body of thread diminishes, or to be applied to spools of different diameters by means of an endless elastic band, D,which surrounds and lies in the said trough. The trough is provided with a per foration at 6, through which the end of the thread to be used passes.

To remove a piece of thread, the spool is laid in the hand with the end of the thread extending between two upturned fingers thereof, the thread is then pulled by the other hand, and the spool will rotate while the trough remains stationary and the thread be drawn through the perforation c until a sufficient quantity is unwound. The spool may then be thrown into the wor t-basket without fear of more thread becoming unwound from it. In placing the spool in the hand preparatory to unwinding thread therefrom, it should be so laid therein that as the thread is pulled the spool will rotate toward the palm of the hand. The trough will readily follow the thread from end to end of the spool as it unwinds without any assistance.

Figs. 5 and 6 show slight modifications in the construction of the trough, the sides thereof being sliited or notched in Fig. 5, and indented in l ig. o. The essential point is to get a trough which will retain the elastic band securely and contract with the diminishing circumference of the loaded spool.

Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-* The hereimdcscribed attachment for spools of thread, the same consisting of an annular trough, as C, the ends of the same being free, and an elastic band, as D, whereby said trough is held in contact with the circumference of the loaded spool, said trough being provided with a perforation, e, for the passage of the thread, substantially as and for the purpose set forth. I

SAMUEL BARKER PRATT. (LARA BARKER PRATT.

\Yituesses:

Wu. H. COATES, ll. COATES, J. G. SAWYER. 

